Speech with Senta

♬♬Just one of them days ♬♫       ( cue 90s girl group )..... Ever have a day where you have ZERO ideas on how to entertain your kids?  Phew... I'm not alone. Now, let me clarify, I don't believe it is my job as the parent to keep my kids entertained 100% of the time. Part of development is them playing make believe, problem solving ( think puzzle s), and being OK having down time. But for those times when we need an activity, what is your go to? I have a few 'tried and true' activities in my mommy/SLP arsenal, as we all do. But what do we do when those are overused? We add pizzazz! Today, I'm not going to reinvent the wheel. No sir. Rather, I wanted to share a few regular, simple, everyday activities you probably already are doing with your little ones. The catch? We are adding some extra language skills aka ' pizazz ' to the punch! 1. Color . Yep. That's right? Not impressed? I know, but I said I wasn't going to reinvent the wheel.

" I feel tired" "I feel anxious" "My stomach has butterflies" "I just want to stay home" "I have a lot on my plate right now" Have you ever found yourself saying one of these things? I know I have ( maybe more now than   usual) . These are just a few of the way we, as individuals who can share our thoughts with words, express that we are feeling stressed . But... what about those who can't speak with their voice/words easily????? Many people can fall into this category: stroke survivors, those with neurodegenerative diseases, children..... But for today, let's focus on the latter: children . How does someone who can't speak or easily communicate their thoughts and feelings with words share that they are stressed? How does a child who may not quite understand what 'stress' is yet, share how she is feeling?

Covid-19, You don’t scare me! (Part 1: Adults) I have to be honest. As a mom, wife, speech therapist, and just plain human being, this Covid-19 situation has increased my anxiety tenfold. While I am not a mental health professional, I know it is always good to have a network of people you can lean on. This can include spouses, loved ones, or friends; but bonus points if one of those individuals is also a professional with experience handling the situation you are personally dealing with. In comes my friend Myriam Sanchez, licensed therapist and owner of Your Family Wellness Village . She was kind enough to share 3 tips on how we can relieve some of the anxiety that may come our way during these trying times: Focus on what you can and cannot control. Most of what we can control is ourselves and our reactions to what's going on. Limit your time on social media and on TV and instead, increase your time engaging in productive values